i won't argue any of your points because i agree with them. but...people probably told Hatch that same thing when he transferred to LSU..... Now i doubt sheppard will do what perilloux did and be a character issue, but sheppard isnt guaranteed anything. I sure hope he is that person and football player everyone is expecting, but who is to say someone like Lee can't have something turn on and be a future all pro QB?
Jefferson didn't win a single game for LSU. Jefferson completed 42% of his passes--Lee completed 53%.
The key is that no one earned the starting job and until someone does it's wide open and everyone has a shot. Those ruling out anyone or giving the starting job to someone that failed or is not even on campus yet are clueless. I think JJ wins the starting job next year, but he will have to earn it and it could just as easily turn out to be one of the others that makes the step up and improves his game enough to get the job.
The QB who has the full confidence of his supporting cast wins the job. That cast didn't quite quit on Lee, but it was obvious they had no confidence in his abilities. It was a different story with JJ back there. They seemed excited. Ready to be great. From seeing JJ in high school, I actually had him pegged as the guy who would lock on to one WR and throw picks as a result, but he was actually making his reads/progressions, before he took off running. Bottom line, if your QB doesn't own the huddle (it's actually HIS huddle), he's not the QB for your team. The huddle isn't just bunching up before the play is called. It's also on the sidelines getting ready for the next series. JL didn't seem to own his huddle.
And no freshman QB has ever improved so we can expect the exact same thing from all of our QB's next season right?
Jefferson played in two games in which the defense played abysmally. As for completion percentage, I really don't care much for that stat. I'll take a 4-20 4 TD performance over a 18-20 0 TD performance any day of the week. Not to mention 53% is not that much higher than 42%.
There seems to be a lot of mixed feelings for all three QBs, understandably. Honestly, though, at this point, I think Hatch has a better chance going into next year than I did this year. He didn't get a ton of snaps, but he only had ONE bad performance, which was at Auburn. He's heady and mobile, which is what you really need in a college quarterback (sure, he has to make throws, too). He's got the maturity, he's got some experience, he's got the mobility, and (at least in my opinion) he's got the football smarts. He may not have the best arm on the team, but in the last play in the video posted earlier in the thread, he did get it about 42 yards down field in the air. That's plenty. As for JJ, his stats aren't all that impressive, but like others have alluded to, he seems to bring a presence with him when he steps on the field. Even in a losing effort, I felt some level of comfort with him behind center. Much more than I would have expected from watching a true freshman take snaps in the SEC. All in all, I think it's anybody's race to win. Someone just needs to separate themselves. If there is a silver lining to all this, it's that at least all 3 QBs did get meaningful game experience. Not often do you come into a season with 3 QBs who ALL have competed against SEC competition with the game on the line. They weren't going in for mop-up duty or simply handing the ball off to their left or right.
Not sure what you're getting at here. I didn't read the entire thread, so I'll respond the best I can. I think the job is JJ's to lose. For one thing, he eliminates the need for two QBs. I know we did it with some reasonable effectiveness during title #2, but the difference was, those two QB's had similar physical abilities, so you had to worry about Flynn as much as Perriloux when it came to mobility. What defense is afraid of Lee's mobility? When Hatch came into the game for Lee, the defense could key in easier. They knew they could bring the safeties up because he was likely going to run, and even if he didn't, he didn't have the arm to beat them deep anyway. With Lee, he couldn't add that 3rd dimension that makes this version of the spread so dangerous. There's nothing wrong with a pro-style QB or pro-style offense, but our coaching personnel doesn't suit a pro-style offense. I don't think Lee fits THIS program at all. I don't think he's a bad QB either. I think he could be highly effective in the right offense. It seems like Crowton had to abandon his offensive philosophies to suit the QB he had at his disposal. He probably would've been just fine under Jimbo Fisher. When Crowton ran the spread with immobile QBs, it was quick strike, no huddle, march down the field, score, do it again. The QB rarely ran, and if he did, it was by design, and usually an option depending on how the play developed in that split second after the snap. The spread LSU sometimes ran this year needs someone mobile because the plays don't develop as quickly. All in all, for an offense that's really not bad, there are a number of unsolved porblems. We as fans have to remember there are many programs that would kill for our "problems."
What I'm getting at is your post seemed to assume that because JJ had better command of the huddle this year that he will automatically have better command than anyone else next year. That's not guaranteed, all of the QB's were young and inexperienced. None of them did anything to earn the starting job and all of them have great potential for improvement. Hate to break he bad news to you, but LSU will run a two QB system next year as well no matter who the starting QB is.
